Best Laid Plans
by Verbophobic
Summary: Event he best laid plans get screwed up


Chapter One: Prologue

"Commander Megatron," Starscream greeted the silver mech with a respectful, although slightly hesitant, bow. He didn't particularly enjoy the display, as the two of them were meant to be equals. However, the grounder bow didn't hold as much value to the Seekers as it did to Megatron, as such Starscream didn't mind it quite so much. He did, however, mind unplanned visits. "I was not expecting you to visit this orn. My Air Guard are not around at the moment, save for Thundercracker. The rest are out on their scheduled patrol of Vos." Which they clearly weren't doing very well,considering the Pit fighter had managed to make it into his palace without any sort of warning to prepare him in the slightest.

Little did the Prince of Vos know, that this was all a part of Megatron's plan. For it to work, he needed to catch the Prince off guard, keep the advantage. "It is alright, Prince Starscream." Just to lay it on, he returned to bow, to Starscream's surprise. It did serve it's purpose though, the show of mutual respect making the Seeker's stance shift just slightly, into something a little more relaxed. "I have come bearing unfortunate news: As it stands, Decepticons and Seekers can no longer be aligned." This was a lie, of course, but Megatron had waited a long time to spring this particular lie on this particular mech. He was counting on the fact that Starscream would do anything to keep the alliance, and he needed to prompt the Seeker Prince to prove it.

He didn't have to wait for very long.

"What?!" the Prince shrieked, and Megatron wondered if his voice was what had earned him his designation. "Why the slag not?! I have put a lot of time, effort, and supplies into _your_ cause, Commander Megatron! You dare to abandon Vos after all that she has done for you-"

"Calm, Prince Starscream," Megatron interrupted, setting an example by keeping his own voice calm and quiet. It forced Starscream to stop so that he could speak, and he watched, pleased, as the Seeker's frame language began to mimic his own, relaxing and opening to what he had to say. "Let me explain: My forces are grounders, there are no winged mecha in my army; not since the Autobots destroyed Praxus. They grow restless… they do not believe that they owe you or your Seekers anything. They believe that you and your Seekers are just using them as cannon fodder, and that your kin do not care for us grounders. I have talked with them, worked with them as best as I can, and they are willing to continue under a single condition." This was where he would get the Seekers, if he played it right. This was where he could keep them for good, and tie them not only into his cause... but to _him,_ for the entirety of the war. It was an elaborate plan, one that had taken him a long time to piece together, observing Starscream and learning everything he could about the Prince. However, it was a plan that, if executed correctly, would win the Seekers over under his control, for good; or lose them to the Autobots.

"Whatever it is I will agree to it," Starscream said, waving a servo. It wasn't as though there was anything that Megatron could suggest that wouldn't be worth it. Starscream's people were relying on him to protect them. "You know that I will. Your forces are clustered primarily around our nurseries. I need them protected no matter the cost, Commander. I saw what the Autobots did to our sister state, to Praxus. I can not allow that to happen here." Despite the state of affairs between Vos and Praxus, Starscream _had_ wept for the lost city. _Still_ wept with his trine at times. Yes, the Praxians were ground-bound Seeker wannabes, but they were still, in the strictest sense, kin. He shook his helm, focusing on Megatron once more.

"They want a union between our forces. Many said that it should be between you and I, but I managed to convince them that should you or I be crippled, so would both of our forces. It is a weakness that neither of us can afford." He waited for the Seeker's reaction, knowing how proud the Prince could be, especially when it came to grounders. Seeing the seething anger on the Prince's faceplates, Megatron knew he had him. Starscream could refuse, knowing that should he do so, that he risked the 'Cons pulling out of those nurseries that he was so keen on protecting. He didn't know that it would be an attack from Megatron himself, feigned as an Autobot one, just like Praxus had been.

Such a large plan was finally coming to a close. What a glorious feeling it was to the soon to be warlord.

"Who would you be forcing me and my trine to bond to, then?" Starscream snapped, furious at Megatron's audacity. "That freak Soundwave?!" To be honest, Starscream didn't mind the deck. He was actually the most tolerable of all of Megatron's forces, and had displayed the appropriate respect to Starscream while still showing that he was a capable and independent mech himself. He was just fragged off about the whole situation.

"Ah~ So you do have a trine." Starscream flinched, muttering a subvocal curse. Reckless. "You have done well keeping them a secret until now, I'm impressed. But no, it would not be my third." Soundwave was much too valuable to sacrifice for such a cause, no matter how vital. Even though there were advantages to that union, such as the ability to keep close tabs on the seeker - or rather seekers - he was not sure that the risk of Soundwave being crippled would be worth the benefit. He had thought about that match originally, considered making Soundwave the second and inviting the seeker as third. Before he'd truly decided, however, the promise of a good second had started to show in Starscream, and Megatron had to change his plans. If one of his two highest ranking officers were to ever be crippled, taking out the other as well would destroy his entire hold on the Decepticon army and ruin any hope of winning this soon to be war.

No, Megatron had someone else in mind. A perfect play against the seekers so that there would be not only absolute control, but a permanent hold over what would be his greatest tool in this war. "It would be my Seconds, actually. You, Prince, deserve nothing less." He had to fight down his own amusement at that. The twins were strong, certainly, but they had no tactical value as leaders, no true place as seconds in command. They were glitched brutes at worst, suited only for blaster fodder on the front lines, and berth warmers at best. Megatron had, of course, groomed them specifically for this purpose, and it was only for this that they had risen in the ranks so quickly. Ever since he found them, "rescued" them from the Pits, every moment had been spent preparing them for this. He had seen the potential in the seeker prince - both the potential to win this war and the more horrifying potential to overthrow him and successfully take control of the Decepticons - and so he had devised the plan to bond Starscream somehow, and use the bond to keep him under his control. Megatron had spent almost a vorn searching for a perfect mate for the seeker once he decided he could not risk Soundwave. He had needed someone easy to manipulate, easy to control. The troops had first demanded that he himself bond to Starscream, and while that outcome had been unacceptable, it was only fitting that the mate Megatron had found was from his own roots, the same fires that had forged him.

Megatron had welcomed the twins into his berth early on, and took joy in manipulating them into believing that they were welcome, that they had a special place. They were a good frag, and for that he would be sorry to see them go, but this was their true purpose - to unite the two armies and be used as leverage against Starscream whenever Megatron needed to… convince him. They had handled the brunt of the army's wrath surprisingly well, held their helms high through accusations of fragging their way to the top, and thoroughly thrashed any mecha that dared to challenge them for their rank. Megatron never would have allowed it, of course, but it would have been suspicious. If the twins had only been a little smarter, and a little more valuable to Megatron than Starscream, then they might have been passed over for this… honor. As it was...

"Your seconds?" Starscream considered it. For grounders, the twins were fairly attractive. They too had risen quickly through the ranks, and Starscream had seen them in action. They wouldn't bring his trine down _too_ much, even if they couldn't fly. "I suppose…" He tilted his helm, and Megatron knew he was using his bond to talk with his trine. They were likely trying to figure out what was going on and why. He waited, knowing that for this part, he needed to play the patient and understanding friend that he was not. Although, he was hoping for a hint as to who Starscream's trine mates were, as that information couldn't possibly be anything but useful. "They have agreed. Bring your mechs, and we will host a ceremony here in Vos."

"Prince Starscream," Megatron interrupted, adopting an expression of concern. He had to address this carefully or the whole plan would blow up in his face. Vosians loved their ceremonies, but the twins would never agree to this bond. They had to be tricked, and a ceremony environment had too much room for error, for someone to notice that the twins weren't willing. "I believe it would be best if we didn't perform a full ceremony. We don't want to draw Autobot attention to it, to put any of you at risk. Bring your trine to our base, or to a safe house if you prefer, and I will have my Seconds ready to bond to you." Megatron skipped the bowing this time, turning on his heel strut and leaving before Starscream could say anything more. He knew the seeker would agree, would go and bond. Seekers were pathetic, so emotional and all about families. But it was something that he was grateful for - he could use it.

Megatron would enjoy torturing those slagging twins after they'd bonded to Starscream's trine. He was going to get the last laugh. The seekers would follow their Prince, and their Prince would do whatever he had to to keep his bonded mates alive.

Now he just had to have Soundwave find the little hellions.

.~:*:~.

Misfire was cuddled up to Discharge, purring and kissing him softly, lavishing his twin in gentle touches and affections after such a wonderful interface. "Come on, Mis. We have to go find Barricade. He said he had some plans to discuss with us, concerning our… thoughts." Discharge pet his pretty little blue twin gently, cupping his face. His red servo looked so good holding his twin's cheek, a perfect contrast of warm against cool. He smiled, optics tracing the contours of Misfire's face. He didn't want to leave. They had a good thing going here, so much better than anything they'd experienced growing up. Misfire was well taken care of for the first time in their lives, and they _owed_ that to Megatron. Yet… neither of them could overlook the little things they had noticed. The plans that seemed to go differently than what had been discussed in officer meetings, the lies, the excessive violence… Discharge was all for violence, and he and Misfire understood the gladiator culture perfectly. But this was so far beyond that, it couldn't really be counted.

As grunts, they had blindly followed their idol. They listened to his words and took it as gospel, practically treating it as direct words from Primus. Now, though, they were having doubts. They had been hearing rumors about what happened in Praxus, and they were starting to watch Megatron more closely, seeing him in a new light. He wasn't the savior of the downtrodden that they had believed him to be. That they had fooled themselves into believing him to be.

Their comrade, Barricade, had been directly affected by what happened in Praxus. After all he was praxian. He had begun to doubt as well, and the twins had seen hatred growing in him.

They reached out to him, and after proving that they were serious, they convinced him to let them join in on the planning. The two of them were good at finding loopholes in technical systems and firewalls, aided by the special access they were given as Seconds in Command. Special access that Megatron had apparently never considered they might actually use. They worked to find where the patrols were most weak, and how to hit it the hardest to make their escape. They would bring as much intel to the Autobots as they could as they made their mad escape with their top 'tactician'. No one knew that Barricade had a tac-net. Between the three of them, their rank, and their intelligence, they had at least a chance of getting the Autobots to listen, at least according to Barricade.

Their planned escape was in one vorn, but Barricade had commed them saying there was something that needed their immediate attention. Of course, they had delayed that with a few joors of quick interface, but now they were ready to meet up.

Discharge let Misfire go and nudged him off the berth, sliding off behind him. He opened the door to their quarters and peered out - it never hurt to be careful - before leading Misfire down the hall.

"Twins: Megatron requests presence." The twins both stiffened as the disturbingly monotone voice of none other than Soundwave caught their attention. Technically, they could tell him to frag off - they outranked him. Unfortunately, Soundwave had never lied about bearing a message from Megatron, and they knew they had to put off Barricade for a bit longer. It wouldn't do to rouse suspicion by ignoring their leader now.

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming," Discharge answered, making a show of sounding agitated. He shoved his twin hard, and the two of them growled at each other, as if they hated one another. It was a front they had kept up ever since catching Megatron's attention. Even in the beginning, when they practically worshipped the Decepticon commander, they had wanted to keep the truth of their relationship secret. Too many times, mecha had tried to take advantage of the twin bond, of how close they were. The front was the only thing that kept them safe from being used against one another. The only time they didn't hold it up was when they interfaced with Megatron. They had to keep up the feigned allegiance, and that meant not being at each other's throats in his berth.

They followed Soundwave, expecting that he would lead them to either Megatron's quarters or the conference room. When they made a turn that couldn't possibly have taken them to either place, Discharge didn't have a chance to warn his brother.

"Twins, meet Shockwave." They didn't have time to react to Megatron's voice, let alone the designation he spoke, before they were hit with sedatives. The drug wasn't strong enough to knock them out, but it was enough that they couldn't fight or even slur their words. Horror was cold in their lines as the Decepticons' Chief Science Officer entered their field of vision. "Upload the programs," Megatron ordered. Shockwave approached them, and they couldn't move, couldn't fight, as Soundwave forced them to bare their connection cabling. Shockwave did something, they couldn't tell what exactly, and their horror grew as they were locked in their processors, and an AI took over their frames to do as Megatron bid.

They were put through their paces, the AI tested to determine its parameters and limits, as well as the limits of their frames. No matter how they struggled against it, their frames still obeyed every command input by the AI, by Megatron.

Discharge sank into his processor, seething. Through their bond, he convinced Misfire to do the same, and for a time they lost awareness of their frames. They plotted, hidden deep in the place where spark knew spark, and no one else could interfere. Misfire had a faster processor, and they agreed that he had a better chance of overriding the AI. Once he did, he just had to patch the override code to Discharge, and then together they would tear apart anyone who got in their way.

When they brought their awareness into their frames again, they didn't know where they were, and no one was around. It was disconcerting, right up until Misfire's spark brushed his with utter fear. His frame was hot, circuits charged up and raring to go, and… and… ~Dissy, my… my valve is lubricated! This AI has me revved up like I'm going through a winged frame's heat cycle!~

~Focus, Misfire. Just start hacking the AI, if you start to panic you'll slow - ~

The doors opened, attracting both twins' immediate attention.

Discharge was forced to watch as a seeker came in, and headed straight for Misfire's vulnerable frame. He recognized the Seeker, though his designation escaped him. He was sure he was important though. Two other Seekers came in as well, one of them glancing at him. He said something, but Discharge didn't understand. Either it wasn't common speech, or the AI was scrambling his processor to keep him less aware. It didn't matter, in the end. The Seekers turned away from him, focusing on Misfire, and he wished he had control of his vocalizer so that he could snarl.

Internally, he could, and he shrieked and raged as the Seekers took his twin. They fragged him hard, and it would have been good, if he'd been willing. Misfire tried to fight the AI like they had originally planned. Focusing on that task made it easier to detach himself from what was happening to his frame. He almost managed to get free, was so close, but then the third seeker, the tri-colored one, opened his spark case and the AI opened Misfire's.

Sheer rage burned through Discharge's lines, and he only wished it would burn out the AI, though it did seem to struggle to contain him. They were mortified as Misfire was bonded to the flier, and thus Discharge was bonded as well. Awareness of three new mecha brushed up against their sparks, and the twins reeled.

Neither of them remembered too much about the bonding other than this. The moment that the Seeker pulled away, Misfire finally finished the hack and shrieked with agony as he felt everything. He could feel the Seekers, all _three_ of them, and he recognized the trine bond linked to his twin bond. He felt his sore valve, and his twin, blocked from helping him, blocked from truly feeling what had just happened to him. To them.

Misfire attacked the Seekers viciously, trying to get away from them. The Seekers backed off in confusion, giving their new mate space. The grounder had been more than willing moments before, so what had happened? They watched, feeling his distress as he stumbled around, optics flickering in confusion, and he begged for help. He needed to get Discharge freed from the AI, but his own systems were scrambled, struggling to fight off the impending fear, anger, and trauma. One of the Seekers moved to go to him, automatically wanting to comfort family, even as new as their bond was. However, the blue seeker stopped his trine mate, expression twisted into something displeased, suspicious. He had known something about all of this wasn't right, even from the start _._ He had kept his peace about it, because the final decision was, ultimately, Starscream's. He now wished that he hadn't, as all of the red flags in his processor began to line up, to make sense. The room they'd been led to wasn't right for a bonding, they'd all known that, but accepted Megatron's claim that it was the best he could offer. There was also the fact that they'd been told to only focus on one twin, not both. His knowledge of twins was limited yes, but he had been sure that in a relationship with twins, they were meant to be treated equally, as one mech. He'd stayed silent in spite of all this, trying to figure it out, trying to find solid evidence for his Winglord. If only he'd said something before they started….

"They must have been drugged," he hissed, and Misfire's attention snapped into focus. He lunged, grabbing for his immobile and locked up twin. He ignored the way Discharge's AI tried to fight him, already patching through the code to hack and destroy it. With his heavy twin in his arms, he ran, shoving past the Seekers and out the door.

The Seekers tried to follow, but it was just their luck that an explosion happened. It sent them running for cover, one of them screeching rage-filled curses, aimed mostly at Megatron himself. If only he was there to hear them. The only ones present to hear, though, were the twins and their unexpected savior.

Barricade came careening around the corner, transforming and scooping Discharge out of Misfire's arms, giving him the freedom to run faster. He led them through a path that he'd had to improvise on short notice, and he hoped that they wouldn't be followed too soon.

"Discharge," he growled, giving the red twin a rough shake. "Are you with us? Speak."

Discharge groaned, optics flickering. He shoved at Barricade hard, rolling himself right out of the larger mech's arms and crashing to the ground. They had a head start, and Barricade was able to give him a moment. Everything was catching up to him, everything that had happened since the AI took over, and he was remembering everything. He prayed that Misfire wouldn't remember, and despite the suspicion that he'd harbored, the betrayal made his optics burn. It was too much, and he let a single harsh sob escape, before he purged his tank on the ground, systems rejecting everything. "I'm fine," he snarled when Misfire reached for him. He wasn't, not really. The AI had been dispatched, but he was struggling hard to keep his processor straight, optical feed glitching now and then, vision flickering from full color to red filter and back. This was what Megatron had prized in him, he knew. The glitch, the rage, the unstoppable force that he became when a trigger was strong enough to push him over the edge. He had it under control for the moment, but he made a vow then and there. No matter how things turned out with the Autobots, he swore to himself that Megatron was going to feel the full effects of this glitch turned on him. Discharge would _never_ forgive him for what they were put through, how they were tricked.

He pushed himself to his pedes and staggered forward, vaguely following Barricade's directions, ignoring his concerned and anxious twin behind him. They traveled on and on, out of the crystal forest and across the flatlands, heading for Autobot territory.

With his sensors fritzing the way they were, he sensed the mech's proximity before they heard him, and he was ready. "Freeze ya slaggers." A gruff voice called. All three looked at the angry red Autobot. They knew they could easily offline him together, and with Discharge in his current unstable state, he could probably take the mech out all on his own. However, Barricade froze and lifted his arms in surrender, motioning for the twins to do the same. Hesitantly, Misfire followed his lead. There was a tension in the air, before Discharge scoffed, looking away from the Autobot, clearly declaring him as 'not a threat', and lifted his own arms. He could play along. For now.


End file.
